Pages

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Missionaries in South Africa: Selected Biographies

Missionary preaching

ADAMS Dr Newton (1804-1851) Medical missionary from Ohio
county New York. Sent to South Africa by
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABM), arriving with
his wife Mrs Sarah C Adams in December 1834. Founded a mission station and
school at Umlazi before founding the famous Adams Mission. i.

ALLARD Jean (1806-1889)

Roman Catholic missionary and
first Vicar Apostolic of Natal 1851. Consecrated Pietermaritzburg’s first Roman
Catholic church in 1852. Worked among Zulus from 1854. In 1862 founded first
mission in Basutoland (Lesotho). 8 years later founded first mission on the
Kimberley diamond fields.

ALLISON James (1804-1875)

Methodist missionary brought
African Christians from Swaziland to settle at Indaleni, Natal 1847. Later an
independent missionary at Edendale near Pietermaritzburg.

ANDERSON, William (1769-1852)

London Missionary Society (LMS) missionary to the Cape in
1800. Settled among itinerant Griqua, Koranna and other groups beyond the
Orange River, founded mission at Klaarwater.
He helped establish the settlement of Griquatown. Anderson worked for 30
years among the Khoikhoi in George district.

ARCHBELL James (1798-1866)

Wesleyan. Initially worked among
the Namaqua. Produced first Tswana grammar book 1826. Became Voortrekker
minister at Thaba Nchu, OFS and in Natal. Founded the Natal Independent and
General Advertiser 1850. Was
Pietermaritzburg’s mayor for five terms.

APPLEYARD John (1814-1874)

Wesleyan. Worked in King
William’s Town area, established press at Mt Coke mission.

1846 published his Xhosa
translation of New Testament. 1859 published Xhosa translation of Old Testament. He married
Sarah Ann, daughter of James Archbell, in 1841. [Pic]

ARBOUSSET Jean Thomas (1810-1877)

Missionary sent by Paris
Evangelical Society 1833 to work among the Sotho; established rapport with
Moshweshwe and had a significant influence on early Basutoland (now Lesotho).
1836 with Francois Daumas discovered the headwaters of the Caledon; named the
Mont-aux-Sources (mountain of springs) in the Maluti Highlands.

ARNDT Johannes (1857-1931)

German missionary, established
Lutheran mission on Kimberley diamond fields in 1881. Translated many religious
works including Lutheran hymns into Tswana. During Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902
founded a relief organization for displaced Boer families.

ASTRUP Nils (1843- )

Norwegian missionary came to
Natal in 1883 and took over as Bishop of the Church of Norway Mission in
Zululand, after death of Schreuder. Astrup was ordained as Bishop in the
Cathedral of Trondheim in 1902. He walked to Gazaland and back in the three
winter months of 1889. In 1891 he compiled a book on this remarkable journey,
and in 1903 he published ‘The Aim of the Zulu Mission – the Heart of Africa’
(written in Norwegian). Astrup’s father was a Judge, and he himself served
as an Assistant Judge in Norway from 1866-69 before he studied theology
1870-78. He was then a rector of a Norwegian
parish between 1879 and 1883. Five of his children were later involved in
missionary work. [Pic]

BENNIE John (1796-1869)

Scottish-born missionary. The
earliest Xhosa linguist. Became associated with the Glasgow Missionary Society
(GMS) in 1816, cut short his studies and sailed to SA as a catechist in the
ship Woodlark which brought supplies for 1820 Settlers. Arriving in 1821 with W Ritchie Thomson, he
brought with him a printing press. Joined John Brownlee and wife at Tyhume
(Chume). Nov 1821 opened a school and started his study of Xhosa and Dutch.
Ordained in 1831 by the first presbytery of Kaffraria and raised to full
missionary status. In Nov 1824 with John Ross he founded Ncera, named Lovedale
in 1826. One of his four children John Angell Bennie b 1885 became a missionary
teacher at Lovedale. In 6th Frontier War (1834-35) Tyhume and the
‘old’ Lovedale were destroyed. Rebuilt
in 1836 on the western bank of the Tyhume. Bennie moved on to Burnshill station
in 1843. From there he visited the emigrant
Boers north of Vet River.7th Frontier War (1846-47) forced him to
move to Graaff–Reinet. Later served as a missionary in the Dutch Reformed
Church.

BIRT Richard (1810-92)

LMS missionary at Mxele then at
Peelton.

BROCKWAY, Thomas

Missionary at Peelton 1859-65,
1867-69

BROADBENT Samuel (1794-1867)

Yorkshire-born pioneer Wesleyan
Methodist missionary and the first missionary to cross the Vaal River. Accepted
into the ministry and at age 21 went to Ceylon. Arrived at the Cape 1820 and
appointed to Rev Barnabas Shaw as an assistant to Rev Edward Edwards of
Kamiesberg mission, Rietfontein, Namaqualand. He had instructions from LMS to
form a station in the Bechuana country (Tswana). He set out from Rietfontein (substation of
Kamiesberg mission) in December 1821;on the 3rd day he fell against
his wagon while holding it on a steep ridge and sustained internal injuries. He
went on to Griquatown where Rev H Helm of LMS received him. Here his wife gave
birth to a son which lived 24 hours.
Continuing tribal wars made founding the mission in Tswana territory impossible
at that time and Broadbent went to Graaff Reinet where 6 months of careful
nursing by Rev Abraham Faure of the NGK saved his life. Hodgson and Broadbent
travelled to the Vaal in November 1822, crossing by raft, then east along the
northern side of the Vaal where no missionary had been before; later
established station at Maquassi. He mastered the Tswana language. On 1 July
1823 his son Lewis Broadbent was born: reputed to be the first white child born
in the Transvaal, Lewis was later a missionary to India. Broadbent left
Maquassi when he fell ill, and the station was destroyed but Hodgson returned
there in August 1825 with Rev James Archbell and rebuilt the structure. Finally
it was abandoned but the missionary work continued when the tribe migrated and
settled elsewhere notably at Thaba Nchu.
Broadbent, still unwell, embarked for England in November 1825 and from
1827 until his retirement in 1863 he continued his mission in England where he
died in the 52nd year of his ministry. He published ‘The missionary martyr of
Namaqualand: memorials of the Rev Wm Threlfall, late Wesleyan missionary in
South Africa who was murdered in Great Namaqualand’ (published London
1857). In 1865 he also published his own account of his SA experiences.

BROWNLEE John (1791-1871)

At first LMS missionary later
with Glasgow Missionary Society.
Linguist and botanist.

Worked among Xhosa in Tyhume
(Chumi) Valley from 1820, then moved to Buffalo River area of Eastern
Cape. Founded King William’s Town 1825.

His eldest son Charles Pacalt
Brownlee was first Secretary for Native Affairs in the Cape and wrote ‘Reminiscences
of Kafir Life and History’ published by the Lovedale Press in 1896. (Recommended reading.)

BRYANT Alfred (1865-1953)

Roman Catholic missionary and
scholar also known as Father Thomas. Worked among the Zulu. Remembered chiefly
for his Zulu-English dictionary first published 1903 and his book ‘Olden
Times in Zululand and Natal’ 1929.

BRYANT James C (d 1850)

ABM missionary came to SA with
his wife Dolly in April 1846; the first American missionary to die on foreign
soil; remembered for his pioneer translation of parts of the Bible into Zulu.
He succumbed to consumption in 1850, having been in ill-health before reaching
Natal. William Ireland took over from Bryant at Ifumi Mission, 35 miles south
of Durban, and Bryant spent the last year of his life party at Msunduzi and
partly at Inanda, where he died.

CALDERWOOD, Henry (1808-65)

LMS missionary, later Cape
government official.

CALLAWAY Henry (1817-1890)

Anglican missionary in Natal.
Wrote ‘The Religious System of the Amazulu’ published 1870.

CHALMERS John Aitken (1837-88)

Missionary at Mgwali, founded
Henderson mission at Thomas River, pastor at Trinity Church Grahamstown. Best
remembered for his book on Tiyo Soga (q.v.)

CHAMPION George (1809

ABM missionary came to Natal in
December 1834 with his wife Susan. His journal was published as ‘Rev George
Champion, pioneer missionary to the Zulus; sketch of his life and extracts from
his journals, 1834-38’ (1896).

COLENSO John (1814-1883),

Arrived in Natal 1854; had an
enormous impact on Church of England mission work in the area. Brought 40
missionaries from England; opened his own station at Ekukanyeni and shortly afterwards
work was begun at Umlazi. Details of Colenso’s life appear in many published
sources, his own writings include works in the Zulu language as well as
doctrinal texts. His book ‘Ten Weeks in Natal’ (published 1855),
expressing his views on polygamy, caused a stir. He became Bishop of Natal; was
excommunicated by the Anglican Church in 1865.

DÖHNE, Jakob Ludwig (1811-79)

Berlin Mission Society missionary
at Bethel mission, later at Stutterheim. Was also associated with the ABM. See further details on Dohne series on this blog

EDWARDS Mary K

Born in West Milton Ohio, a
schoolteacher before marriage, at 38 she was widowed and volunteered for
mission service in Africa. She was sent out to SA as first missionary of the
Women’s Board of Missions, sailing in August 1868 to Port Elizabeth on a 375 ton
vessel; the voyage took 79 days. In the same year she started work at the
Inanda Seminary, oldest boarding school for Zulu girls in SA. Her active
service covered over 56 years. She
returned home to America only once in that time, remaining in SA from 1876
onwards. After retirement age she continued to live at the school, exerting a
considerable influence on the community in the area. Known as ‘Ma Edwards’ to
the Zulus, it was only after the age of 70 that she relinquished supervision of
the large school farm. At 80 she took a correspondence course in nursing so
that she could instruct the Zulu girls. When later she became blind she learned
to use a typewriter. A prime example of multi-tasking, her various occupations
at Inanda over the years included principal, treasurer, doctor, cook, caterer,
seamstress, gardener, matron and nurse.

GARDINER, Capt. Allen Francis
(1794-1851)

Retired naval office turned
missionary, built a Mission Station at Port Natal in 1834, naming it Berea. His
daughter Julia died and was buried in Durban (Julia Road is named after her).
Brought Rev Francis Owen of the Church Missionary Society to Natal. After the
Retief massacre Gardiner left SA, and worked in Chile as well as New Guinea and
eventually died of starvation in Patagonia.

GOODENOUGH, H D

ABM missionary came to SA with
his wife Carrie in September 1881.

GROUT, Aldin (1803-1894)

Veteran missionary of the ABM.
Father of Oriana, who married William Ireland (q.v.)

Grout was born in Massachusetts,
US. Married Hannah Davis 1834; together with other ABM missionaries they sailed
to SA, landing at Cape Town 5 February 1835. Hannah Grout died in Bethelsdorp
24 February 1836 and Grout took his daughter Oriana back to America the
following year. While there he married Charlotte Bailey and the couple returned
to SA in June 1840. His Mission Station at Ginani had been destroyed in his
absence. In April 1841 Grout established a Station at Inkanyezi near Empangeni,
and opened a school. There was a hiatus in his association with the ABM in 1844,
and he worked in Natal as a Government Missionary for about a year before
resuming his ABM position in 1845. He founded Umvoti Mission Station in 1846; a
church was completed in 1863. This Mission was renamed the Groutville Mission
Station after its founder in 1878. In failing health, Grout returned to the US
in February 1890 after 35 years in Natal.

GROUT, Lewis

American missionary; came to SA
with his wife Lydia in October 1846. Note: not related to Aldin Grout. 1847 he
opened a Mission Station at source of Msunduzi River, Natal.

HANCE Gertude R

ABM missionary came to SA July
1870, worked among the Zulus.

HARMS, Ludwig (1808-65)

Son of a Lutheran clergyman at
Hermannsburg, Hanover.1849 established ‘Die Hermannsburger Mission’. First it
was intended to establish a station and a colony of missionaries among the
Gallas of East Africa but when this failed Natal was chosen as the site of
their endeavours, Hermannsburg station being founded in 1854 east of Greytown
in Umvoti County.

HOLDEN William Clifford

Mehodist missionary, opened first
Methodist church in Durban in May 1850. Among various works, he wrote ‘History
of the colony of Natal’ (1855) and ‘A Brief History of Methodism and of
Methodist Missions in South Africa’ (1877).

IRELAND, William (1821-1888)

ABM missionary came to SA 1849
with his first wife Jane, nee Wilson. She died in 1862. He then went on leave
of absence to America and while there married Oriana Relief Grout, daughter of
Aldin Grout; Oriana had been born in Bethelsdorp. Her mother, Hannah Grout nee
Davis, died of consumption in Cape Colony when Oriana was a few weeks old; the
child grew up in America. Later Oriana returned to SA with her husband William
Ireland who was principal of Adams College at Amanzimtoti from 1865-1881. Oriana
ran the Ireland Home for Zulu Girls. They had 7 children, of whom 5 survived.
Lilla Lacon Ireland their eldest daughter later worked at Adams and at Inanda.
Their eldest son Rev William Fleetwood Ireland was ordained in the
Congregational ministry in 1895.

LIEFELDT, L

Berlin Society missionary

LINDLEY, Daniel (1801-1880)

ABM missionary came to SA in
December 1834 with his wife Lucy; founded station at Mosega among Ndebele,
later moved to Port Natal to work among the Zulu, but in 1839 became minister
to the Voortrekkers. 1846 resumed work for ABM in Natal, founding Inanda
Mission Station.

LLOYD Charles H

ABM missionary travelled to SA in
June 1862 with his wife Katie.

MARSH, Samuel D

ABM missionary came to SA with
his wife Mary, leaving US in October 1847.

MCKINNEY, Silas

ABM missionary travelled to SA
with his wife Fanny in April 1847.

MOFFAT Robert

LMS missionary arrived at the Cape in 1817; worked among
the Bechuana at Kuruman Mission Station for 50 years. Wrote ‘Missionary
Labours and Scenes in South Africa’ (1842), and translated the Catechism as
well as the New Testament into the Tswana language. His daughter Mary married
David Livingstone, the missionary-explorer, who also worked at Kuruman before
his travels in Central Africa. [Pic below this post]

OFTEBRO, Ommund (1820-1893)

Norwegian missionary arrived in
Natal 1848. Worked at Eshowe Mission Station (i.e. Kwa Mondi, after Oftebro’s
Zulu name, Mondi) where he died and was buried at the Norwegian Cemetery. His
wife Guri b Hognestad 1816 died at Eshowe in 1899. They had four children. His
son Martin was an interpreter present at the capture of Cetshwayo after the
Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.

OWEN Francis (1802-1854)

Missionary of the Church
Missionary Society (Church of England). Travelled to Natal with Capt Allen
Gardiner, and then to Zululand where he hoped to found a mission among
Dingane’s people. Witnessed the massacre of Piet Retief and his companions in
1838 and left the area. His attempt to establish a mission among the Hurutse
failed and he returned to England in 1840. His Diary, edited by G E Cory, was
published by the Van Riebeeck Society in 1926.

PEARSE Horatio (?-1825)

A Wesleyan stationed for eleven
years in Pietermaritzburg; in poor health, he was about to return to England on
leave when the wagon he was travelling in overturned; he later succumbed to his
injuries. See book by Thornley Smith ‘The earnest missionary: a memoir of
the Rev. Horatio Pearse’ (London
Wesleyan Mission House, 1868)

PHILIP John (1777-1851)

With John Campbell sent to SA to
report on state of LMS stations in SA and made four expeditions between 1818
and 1826; when the report was published in 1828 it caused much
controversy. Became Superintendant of
LMS; resigned 1849.

PINKERTON Myron W

ABM missionary came to SA in
August 1871 with his wife Laura.

PIXLEY, Stephen C

ABM missionary came to SA with
his wife Louisa in October 1855.

POSSELT Carl Wilhelm (1815-1885)

Berlin Missionary in Natal 1847.

READ James (1777-1852)

Prominent member of LMS, worked
among Khoikhoi

At the time his allegations of
ill-treatment of the Khoi and oppression by whites were considered exaggerated.
He and his son were alleged to have instigated the Khoi revolt during the 8th
Frontier War 1850-1853.

ROBBINS Elijah

ABM missionary came to SA in
September 1859 with his wife Addie; worked in the American Zulu Mission.

ROOD David

ABM missionary arrived in SA 1847
accompanied by his wife Mrs Alvina V Rood; worked among the Zulus. On the death
of Newton Adams 1851, Rood left Ifafa Mission Station to fill the gap left at
Amanzimtoti. [Pic]

SCHMIDT Georg (1709-1785)

Pioneer Moravian missionary and
first Protestant churchman to found mission for the Khoi at the Cape. His
station was at Zoetmelksvlei beyond the Caledon River. The established Dutch
recognized neither Schmidt’s ordination or his authority to baptise his
converts so he closed the station and left for Europe in 1744.

SCHREUDER Hans Paludan Smith
(1817-1882)

Norwegian missionary and Zulu
linguist, founder of first Christian mission within Zululand. Arrived Zululand 1843, Mpande refused him
entry, Schreuder tried again in 1847, then went to China. There he also
experienced rejection and he returned to Zululand; was able to establish
rapport with Mpande by healing the king. Schreuder had medical knowledge and
was adept at trades of blacksmith, carpenter and tailor. His physical strength
became legendary and he is said to have strangled a leopard with his bare
hands. Established stations at Mpumulo (1850), Empangeni (1851) and Entumeni
(1852). Joined by Udland, Oftebro and Larsen.

Wesleyan clergyman who worked
among the Albany Settlers. From 1823,
William Shaw was instrumental in establishment of chain of mission stations
from Eastern Cape to Natal. See www.genealogyworld.net/settlers/tessa.htm

SHEPSTONE, William (1796-1873)

Wesleyan missionary, father of Theophilus Shepstone.
Worked at Wesleyville Mission. Theophilus Shepstone (1815-1893), later
knighted, came to be associated with Anglican Church and was a supporter of
Colenso during the years of schism in Natal. Theophilus’s brother was named
John Wesley Shepstone (1827-1916).

SOGA Tiyo (c 1829-1871)

First South African black to be
ordained as minister in the Presbyterian Church. Son of Jotello Soga of the
Xhosa, a polygamist whose seventh wife was the mother of nine children of whom
Tiyo was the seventh. His mother was a converted Christian and sent Tiyo to the
local mission school; he subsequently attended Lovedale and when his education
was interrupted by the frontier wars was taken to Scotland in 1846 for
religious instruction. In 1848 he returned to South Africa to assist in
establishing a Mission Station but when the 8th Frontier War broke
out Tiyo went back to Scotland, where he was ordained in December 1856. He
married a Scottish yarn winder, Janet Burnside, at Govan in February 1857 and
returned to South Africa to found a Mission Station at Tuturu. He translated the Gospels into Xhosa as well
as part of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’; his son John Henderson Soga (1860-1941), also
a missionary, completed this translation. Tiyo Soga served on the board which
revised the Xhosa Bible. Of his seven children, the eldest, William Anderson
Soga, attended Glasgow University and became a medical missionary; William
married Mary Agnes Meikle in 1885 and established the Miller Mission in
Transkei where he worked until 1903. John Henderson Soga trained for the
ministry in Edinburgh, qualifying in 1893 and returned to South Africa to
establish a mission at Mbonga. Tiyo’s son Jotello Testiri Soga (1856-1906) was
the first South African-born black veterinary surgeon, and after he qualified
in 1886 returned to South Africa where he did research on animal diseases in
the Eastern Cape border region; Jotello Testiri Soga is said to have died of an
overdose of laudanum in 1906. Tiyo Soga was only 52 when he died in August
1871. John A Chalmers wrote the story of
Tiyo Soga’s life ‘Tiyo Soga: A Page of South African Mission Work’
published in Edinburgh 1877. [Pic]

SMITH George (1845-1918)

Norfolk-born, Smith came to Natal
in 1871 as missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts (SPG); ordained in the Anglican Church by Bishop McCrorie of
Pietermaritzburg; became Vicar of Estcourt, Natal. As minister of St John’s
Church, Weston, he conducted burial services for those killed at Bushman’s
River Pass during the Langalibalele Rebellion 1873; later chaplain to the
British Army during the Anglo-Zulu War, he was present at the Defence of
Rorke’s Drift, where he dispensed ammunition while encouraging the troops. He
is depicted as a central figure in Alphonse de Neuville’s well-known painting
of the battle.

STOTT Ralph

Methodist missionary to Indians
in Natal 1862.

THOMSON William Ritchie (1794-1891)

Glasgow missionary stationed in
Kat River Settlement from 1830 with a congregation which joined the Dutch
Reformed Church in 1832.

THRELFALL William (? – 1825)

Wesleyan missionary murdered by
his Bushman guide in Namaqualand 1825.
His story is told in Samuel Broadbent’s book ‘The missionary martyr
of Namaqualand: memorials of the Rev Wm Threlfall, late Wesleyan missionary in
South Africa who was murdered in Great Namaqualand’ (published in London
1857). See detailed bio on this blog

TYLER Josiah

ABM missionary came to SA with
his wife Susan in April 1849. Published ‘Forty Years among the Zulus’ (1891),
covering missionary life from 1849-1888.

VAN DER KEMP Johannes 1747-1811

Dutch-born missionary sent by LMS
to work among Xhosa ruled by Ngika near King William’s Town. Printed first work published in book form in
SA (a letter from the LMS to inhabitants of the Cape 1799). Founded a
settlement for vagrant Khoi at Bethelsdorp and provoked resentment among local
white farmers. He retaliated with accusations of ill-treatment of blacks by
farmers and was recalled to Cape Town by the colonial government. He died soon
afterwards. Van der Kemp married the daughter of a slave woman from Madagascar.

VENABLE, Henry I (1811-1878)

ABM missionary came to SA in 1835
with his wife Martha in the company of Aldin Grout, Adams, Wilson etc.

WATERSTON Jane (1843-1932)

Scottish medical missionary came
to SA to be principal of a girls’ school in Lovedale (Ciskei). The first woman
doctor to practice in SA. In 1888 gained her MD with distinction from the
University of Brussels.

WIGGILL Eli

A Wesleyan Methodist who preached to the Bechuana and
Koranna peoples, Wiggill converted to Mormonism and finally left SA for Utah.

Missionary of the first ABM party
to SA leaving US in December 1834 and arriving 3 December 1835; travelled with
his wife Mary who died before her husband reached Natal; on her deathbed she
said: ‘Tell my mother and sister and friends that I have never regretted coming
to Africa.’ Wilson was a physician by profession.

WITT, Otto

First missionary to represent the
Church of Sweden Mission in SA, arriving 1876.
For a time connected with Schreuder’s mission. The Swedish Church
purchased a farm near the border of Zululand and a mission was established
there, named Oscarsberg in honour of the Swedish King. This is where Witt was
stationed at the time of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879.